Corporate and White Collar Crime Seminar

This seminar examines the federal laws and policies that have been enacted in response to corporate and white collar crime. Students will explore the substantive and procedural aspects of corporate and white collar criminal law enforcement, including: the federal mail fraud and money laundering statutes; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; the Bank Secrecy Act; deferred prosecution agreements; bounties and protections for federal whistleblowers; parallel prosecutions by multiple federal and state agencies; and other relevant topics.

Grading and Method of Evaluation:

Letter grade with pass/fail option. Grades will be based on a combination of class participation and short and longer written papers. With the advance permission of the professor, a limited number of students will be permitted to request that their papers be eligible to satisfy the Upperclass Writing Requirement.

Corporations

This course examines formation and organization of corporations; financing the corporation; purposes and powers (ultra vires doctrine); transfer of shares (restriction of transfers; Article 8 U.C.C.); distribution of powers between shareholders and directors; some important aspects of the Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934; sale of controlling interest; derivative actions; preemptive rights; voting rights; dividends and distributions, organic changes; and dissolutions and liquidations.

Grading and Method of Evaluation:

Letter grade only. Final exam.

Criminal Law

This course consists of an introduction to the criminal process and the role of the Constitution in reconciling the authority of government with the rights of the individual. The primary focus of the course is, however, on the substantive aspects of the criminal law. The role of the criminal law as the principal means of social control is explored, as well as the limitations on legislative power to define and punish criminal behavior. Cases and statutes are studied to develop a critical understanding of the fundamental concepts of criminal responsibility. The course includes the study of some specific crimes such as homicide and conspiracy, as well as the general principles of jurisdiction, accessorial liability, justification and the impact of mental disease, intoxication and mistake on criminal responsibility.

Grading and Method of Evaluation:

Letter grade only. Final exam.

Criminal Procedure: Investigations

This course explores the investigative phase of a criminal proceeding focusing on the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights of criminal suspects. Topics covered include arrest, search and seizure, electronic surveillance, interrogations and confessions, line-ups and other pre-trial identification procedures, right to counsel, doctrines governing application of constitutionally based exclusionary rules (standing, retroactivity, harmless error and the "fruit of the poisonous tree" doctrine) and motions to suppress evidence.

Grading and Method of Evaluation:

Letter grade with pass/fail option. Final exam. Enrollment Note: This course and Criminal Procedure: Adjudication may be taken in any order. One is not a prerequisite for the other.